Afghanistan war: US says violence reaches all-time high

[unhappycamper]

The Pentagon says Taliban forces are exploiting Afghan perceptions Nato troops will soon pull out


Afghanistan war: US says violence reaches all-time high
23 November 2010 Last updated at 18:45 ET

In a twice-annual report to the US Congress, the Pentagon said progress had been "uneven", with only modest gains against the Taliban insurgency.

The Pentagon also reported gains in security, governance, and development in key areas.

But it warned the Taliban was exploiting perceptions Nato countries would soon withdraw combat forces.

In a report covering the period between 1 April and 30 September, the Pentagon attributed much of the increase in violence to the growth in the coalition force after US President Barack Obama's escalation this year.

"Efforts to reduce insurgent capacity, such as safe havens and logistic support originating in Pakistan and Iran, have not produced measurable results," the report states.

[slackmaster]

1. And the people who live there don't know why we went there in the first place

Much less why we're still there.

[burnsei sensei]

2. Afghanistan is the ultimate monument to Bush stupidity.

There is nothing there worth fighting for.
Except if you are an Afghan or ambition-driven foreigner.
The Afghans know war too well I think. And in going to war against them, we just gave them what they were familiar with.
If you have an adversary, you should not meet him where he is most comfortable. Then you guarantee your defeat.
But here in the U.S., our government is so unstrategic in its thinking.
No one has humiliated this nation more than its government and its toadying elite.

[Fumesucker]

3. There are plenty right here on DU that thought at the time we should have gone into Afghanistan..

You really can't lay Afghanistan solely at the feet of Bush and the Republicans, it was overwhelmingly popular right after 9/11.

Say what you will, the Afghanistan quagmire now belongs to Obama and it was his decision and his campaign rhetoric to escalate there, as CIC of the armed forces he could command a withdrawal if he wished to do so but he hasn't done that, just the opposite in fact.

[w8liftinglady]

4. I know a doctor who was in Afghanistan 2002-2003

He helped build a good hospital for the locals where he was based.Little or no fatalities.

He shakes his head in shock when we talk about this..."Why the fuck didn't we leave then?We'd done all we could do?"

He can't talk about it.


"They" aren't quite done milking the golden government cow,yet.

[Fumesucker]

5. The morass in Afghanistan was eminently predictable..

All it took was a modicum of knowledge of history to realize that a land war in Asia is seldom a good thing for an empire to become embroiled in.

As Mark Twain once observed, history does not repeat itself but it does rhyme.

What truly sucks about our national discourse is that those who have been right all along *still* are considered "unserious" and are not listened to while those who have been wrong every single time are given a gigantic podium and a gigawatt sound system with which to spout off their ignorant foolishness.